Conway, S.C. – Mallory Bruce and Kristin Williams each scored 16 points and Coastal Carolina led from beginning to end to earn a 77-68 win over Louisiana in a Sun Belt conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center.
 
Bruce also grabbed 10 rebounds to pick up her first double-double of the season, while Williams provided the long-range shooting by hitting four three-pointers. The duo was supported by Alancia Ramsey, who had 12 points, and Dalanna Carter, who got 11 off the bench. Savannah Brooks and Jayden Marable added nine points apiece as the Chanticleers improved to 15-6 overall and 6-5 in the conference. It also lifted the team's record to 10-1 at home.
 
"It is a credit to our starting five that we got off to good start. We got 26 points in that first quarter (26-15) and that gave us the margin we needed to go the rest of the way," said Coastal head coach Kevin Pederson. "Mallory did a great job to get her first double-double and I'm really proud of Dalanna and what she did for us today."
 
Coastal broke out to an early 13-point lead but never led by 10 again until midway through the final quarter. For a brief moment, Louisiana trimmed its deficit to three, at 61-58, with three minutes left. But from there, Coastal scored seven consecutive points and then made 7-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes to preserve the win. Carter was a perfect 4-of-4 from the line in that stretch.
 
Erica Lafayette had a game-high 24 points for Louisiana, which slipped to 9-11 overall and 5-6 in the league.
 
Coastal exploded out to a 7-0 advantage and then used another 7-0 run to pull in front by 20-7 late in the first quarter. The Chants hit 5-of-7 three-point attempts in the quarter and made 10 of their 15 shots from the field in holding a 26-15 lead after the first 10 minutes.
 
But Coastal went cold to start the second quarter (1-of-10) and Louisiana climbed back to close to within 29-27, before Marable took over to score five points in the final four minutes of the quarter to keep her team in front. Coastal was in front by 39-33 at the break, behind nine points from Williams and seven each by Marable and Bruce.
 
Coastal leveled off and shot 46 percent for the game (26-of-57) and 35 percent from beyond the arc (8-of-23). The Chants also had the rebounding edge, 36-33. Bruce led the way with her 10 rebounds and Ramsey shook off early foul trouble to finish with seven rebounds (6 in the second half), while Brooks had six.
 
Coastal will be back in action Wednesday at Texas State before coming back home to host Buffalo in the Sun Belt-Mid American Challenge series at 4 p.m. next Saturday. The Chanticleers also will close the regular season with four consecutive home games from Feb. 19-28.
 
For complete coverage of CCU women's basketball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalWBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.